
4 



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FORTY OF 
BOSTON'S 
HISTORIC 
HOUSES 




FORTY OF BOSTON'S 
HISTORIC HOUSES 



A BRIEF 

ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTION 

OF THE RESIDENCES OF HISTORIC CHARACTERS OF BOSTON 

WHO HAVE LIVED IN OR NEAR THE 

BUSINESS SECTION 



PRINTED FOR THE 

STATE STREET TRUST COMPANY 

BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS 



r75 

.3; 



COPY RIGHT EI) 
IQI 2 BY T II /■: 
STATE STREET 
TRUST COMPANY 




C UM ri LEI) A R R . 1 A' (. E I) 
AND PRINTED UNDER 
THE DIRECTION OF THE 
II .1 LTON ADVERT I S/Xc; 
AM) J'RINTING COM J' AW 
BOSTON MASS A CII I 'SETTS 



©CI. A 3(154 r-^ 



The State Street Trust Company takes 
pleasure in presenting to you this monograph 
on Forty of Boston*s Historic Houses, 

It is the sixth in the series of historical 
brochures that the company has issued dur- 
ing the past six years y and the company hopes 
that you will find it worthy of preservation 
in your library. 

The State Street Trust Company desires 
also to call your attention to the banking 
facilities which it offers in its new offices to 
individuals^ firmsy and corporations that 
either contemplate a change in banking rela- 
tions or are seeking a bank for the first time. 

The new offices are equipped with the 
most up-to-date safe deposit vaults, which 
have every accommodation required for such 
a department. 

The State Street Trust Company extends 
to you an invitation to visit its new offices if 
you have not already done so, 

MAIli OFFICE BACK BAT BRANCH 

J J State Street IJO Massachusetts Avenue 

(^Corner Boylston Street) 



^'CI.A3(ir>4 4".> 



'^ 



^ FOREWORD 

IT gives the State Street Trust Company pleasure to 
present to you the sixth of the historical monographs 
relating to Boston that have been issued by the Com- 
pany. The brochure presents illustrations and brief 
sketches of the homes, in or near the business section, of 
those who have been the leaders of Boston in art, science, 
business, and politics. It does not aim to be a complete list 
of such houses, but to present only forty of the most inter- 
esting ones. 

The State Street Trust Company desires to acknowledge 
the courtesy of Dr. Samuel A. Green, of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, and Mr. Charles F. Read, of the Bos- 
tonian Society. It also desires to acknowledge the courtesy 
of Messrs. Little, Brown and Company, Houghton Mifflin 
Company, and IMr. Charles H. Stark in permitting the use 
of illustrations from some of their publications. 

We hope that this small book may be of suflficient interest 
to find a place in your library. 




"mi 






THE OLD TRAVELLER BUILDING 

APTER THE ALTERATIONS OF THE ROGERS BUILDINGS 

It is now the site of the VVorthington Building, the new home of the State Street 
Trust Comi)any. On this site stood in 1650 the homestead of Elder Thomas 
Lcverett, who settled in Boston in 1633, ^"^ was with John Cotton one of the first 
elders of the First Church. In 1709 the proj)crty was owned by Thomas MaiCarty, 
and was known as MacCarty's Corner. Here Benjamin Russell in 17S4 began the 
I)ubIicalion of the Columbian Sentinel. The Rogers Buildings, erected about 1800, 
was one of the first brick blocks in Boston. It was sold in iSii to James Harrison, 
who in turn sold it to Daniel Dennison Rogers, when the block was known as Rogers 
Buildings. In 1833 Henry B. Rogers, son of the former, sold it to Israel Thorndike, 
and it became known as Thorndike's Buildings. In 1838 Israel Thorndike sold it to 
the National Insurance Comi)any, but it continued to be known as Thorndike's 
Buildings until the Kvenini^ Traveller took up its quarters here in 1S51. It was known 
as the Old Traveller Building from December, 1851, to 1804 when it was torn down 
to make way lor the i)resenl Worthington Building, which was built in 1S05. "1^' 
property from 1856 to 1S84 was owned by Peter Chardon Brooks, or his estate. 
Mr. Roland Worthington purchased it in April, 1884. 







PROVINCE HOUSE 

Washington Street 

The house which later became the Province House was erected in 1679 by 
Peter Sergeant, a leading Boston merchant of his time. In 1716, after Sergeant's 
death, the estate was bought for twenty-three hundred pounds by the Province of 
Massachusetts Bay as the official residence of the Royal Governors, all of whom 
lived there. After the Revolution the residence, then the property of the State 
of Massachusetts, was called the Government House for some years, and it later 
became a tavern, and still later was the home of minstrelsy, a theatre having been 
built within its walls. What remains of the Province House is now incorporated 
into a business building, and a portion of the northern wall, probably the oldest 
brickwork in the city, can be seen at the present time in the rear of 323 to 331 
Washington Street, in that portion of the street known as Marlborough Street in 
Provincial days. 




HANCOCK HOUSE 

Beacon Street 

The Ilaiuoik house was built in 1737 by Thomas Hancock, an eminent Boston 
merchant of his day, who resided in it until his death in 1764. After the death of 
his widow in 1776, it became the property and home of their distinguished nephew, 
John Hancock, the patriot whose bold auloj;;raph was the first alVixed to the Decla- 
ration of Independence. He lived in the house until his death in 1705, which occurred 
while he was fillin<? the high otVice of Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachu- 
setts. During the siege of Boston the Hancock house was a British military head- 
quarters, and subsec|uentiy it was the scene oi generous hosjiilality bestowed by its 
wealth}' owner on his distinguished friends. It was lorn down in 1S63. to the regret of 
antiquarians, and its site is covered to-day by the estates 29 and 30 Beacon Street. 



>~an&a..v4 




FANEUIL-PHILLIPS HOUSE 

Tremont Street 

The Faneuil-Phillips house was built lyog by Andrew Faneuil, a rich Boston 
merchant, who was a French Huguenot by birth. At his death in 173S the estate, 
seven acres in extent, became by his will the property of his nephew, Peter Faneuil, 
who continued to conduct the business and dispense the hospitality of the family. 
As he was unmarried, he was assisted in the latter by his sister Mary Ann Faneuil, 
who shared the family mansion with him. Peter Faneuil gave to the town of Boston 
in 1742 the hall which bears his name and which has always been known as "The 
Cradle of Liberty." After his death in 1743 the Faneuil house had several owners. 
At the time of the Revolution one of the Vassall family owned it, and, they being 
Tories, it was confiscated and sold in 17S3 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to 
Lsaiah Doane. It was the home of William Phillips, Lieutenant-Governor of the State 
from 1S12 until his death in 1827. In 1S35, at the time of extensive operations on 
Tremont Street. Tremont Row, and Pembcrton Scjuare, on the easterly slope of Pem- 
berlon Hill, the mansion was taken down and the acres covered with business build- 
ings and residences. The site of the house is covered lo-daj' by the Carney Building 
opposite King's Chapel Burying-ground. 




VASSALL HOUSE 

Summer Street 

The Vassall house was built on Seven Star Lane, now Summer Street, about 
1727 by Leonard V'assalK a rich West Indian jjlanter. At his death in 1737 the 
estate, which measiireci sixty-ei^ht by two hundred and sixty-eight feet, was sold 
to Tiionias Hubbard for six hundred pounds. It was the home for nearly forty years 
of Tlionias Hubbard, who was a distinijuished Hostonian of his da_\' and who was 
treasurer of Har\ard Collej^e for twenty-one years. It was next the property of 
I'rederii k William (juyer, and, as he was a Lo\aIist, it was confiscated by the Com- 
monwealth. It was, howe\'er, placed in Mr. Ouyer's possession aj^ain in 17SQ, when 
he returned to Boston and was restored to citizenship. In 1803, the year before he 
died, Mr. (iuyer sold the estate to Samuel P. Oardner, ancestor of the late John L. 
(iardner, of Boston, and it is still in possession of that family. About 1S43 this relic 
of Provincial Boston was demolished, and the {granite bu.siness building (now occu- 
pied by the firm of C. V. Hovey & Co.) was erected on the site. 




CLARK-FRANKLAND HOUSE 
Garden Court and Prince Street 

The mansion which was called the Clark-Frankland house was erected prob- 
ably about the yea.T 17 13 by William Clark, as in the previous year he bought of Ann 
Hobby the land on which it was built. William Clark, who was born early in the 
eighteenth century, was a Boston merchant and distinguished among his fellow- 
citizens as a Councillor of the Royal Province of Massachusetts Bay. After resid- 
ing in the stately mansion for many years, he died in 1742, and some years later, 
in 1756, his son-in-law sold the property for twelve hundred pounds to Sir Harry 
Frankland, Bart., who married the charming Agnes Surriage, of Marblehead. Sir 
Harry, however, occujiied the house but a brief year, for he was soon appointed 
Consul-General to Lisbon, Portugal. Isaac Surriage sold the estate in 181 1 for 
eight thousand dollars to Joshua Ellis, a retired Boston merchant, and he lived there 
until his death in 1829. In 1832, when the way known as Bell Alley was widened, 
it is said that the great house, containing twenty-si.\ rooms, was taken down, and 
only memories remained in Boston of the celebrated romance of Sir Harry Frankland 
and Agnes Surriage. 




COTTON MATHER HOUSE 
Hanover Street 

The house formerly situated on ancient Middle Street, now Hanover Street, 
and shown in the illustration, was for thirty years the house of the distinguished 
divine, Cotton Mather. John (iallop was the first owner of the land, on a portion 
of which the house was built. In 165s, after several transfers, a part of the Gallop 
property came into the possession of Rev. John Mayo, pastor of the Second Church 
of Christ in Boston, and he lived on this estate until 1673, when, removing to Barn- 
stable, he sold it to Abraham Cording, mariner, and he, in turn, sold it to Rev. Cotton 
Mather in 1688. In the house, which he jirobably built, Mather lived for thirty 
years, during which time much of his literary work was accom[)li.shcd. In 17 18 
Ccjlton Mather sold the estate to Joseph Turill, and later, in 1S22, the property came 
into the [)ossession of John Howard. It was sold by the daughter of John Howard 
in 1880 to John Miller, who built in 1S82 the building still standing, numbered 300 
Hanover Street. The elder daughter of John Howard remembered well the ancient 
house before the front wall was taken down and the building extended to the street 
in 1846. It was from her recollections that the illustration was made. It is there- 
fore not authentic. 




FOSTER-HUTCHINSON HOUSE 
Garden Court 

The Foster-Hutchinson house was probably built by John Foster about the 
year 1686, as in that year he bought the land, which became his estate, from Richard 
Wharton. John Foster was a wealthy Boston merchant who was prominent in 
official and military life. He died, intestate, in 1711, and his wife, surviving him 
but two months, bequeathed the bulk of the family estate, including the "dwelling 
or brick mansion," to her nephew. Captain Thomas Hutchinson. He and his dis- 
tinguished son of the same name, who was Governor of Massachusetts Bay from 
1 77 1 to 1774, occupied it in turn until 1765, when it was sacked by a mob who thus 
showed their disapproval of Hutchinson's action, while Lieutenant-Governor, in the 
enforcement of the obnoxious Stamp Act. The estate was later confiscated and 
sold to William Little, merchant, and for many years appraiser at the Custom House, 
who occupied it until his death in 1831. Another occupant at this time was Colonel 
John P. Boyd, a brother of Mrs. Little, and Naval Officer of Boston in 1830. Like 
its neighbor, the Clark-Frankland house, the Foster-Hutchinson mansion was demol- 
ished in 1833, when Bell Alley was widened and made a continuation of Prince 
Street. 




EBENEZER HANCOCK HOUSE 

Marshall's Lane 

There is to be seen ;it the present time in Marshall Street, opposite the "Boston 
Stone," the ancient eif^htecnth-century building which was formerly the home of 
Klienezer Hancock, a younf^cr brother of John Hancock, the patriot. Throufjh the 
latter's influence while President of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, 
Kbenezer Hancock was aj)pointcd in 1776 Deputy Paymaster-General of the Con- 
tinental Army. This ai)pointment made his home an important place during the 
Revolution for disbursement of money to the troops. Kbenezer Hancock, however, 
left the house many years before his death in 181Q, and by the year 17S9 it had 
become the property of Kbenezer Krothingham, a china and glass merchant, who 
had his store in the first story. In 1708 Henjamin Kuller, a shoe dealer, also had 
a shop in the building, and he in turn was followed about the year 1S21 by William 
II. Learnard, who continued the shoe business until his death in 1SS6. The same 
trade is carried on to-day in one of the stores, the rest of the ancient house being 
devoted to restaurant and tavern purposes. 




DALTON HOUSE 

Congress Street 

James Dalton, a sea-captain, bought in 1756 an estate situated between Milk 
and Water Streets, and on this estate built a mansion in 1758. At about this same 
time a new street was laid out by the town of Boston, on which the house fronted. 
This thoroughfare was called Dalton Street, and became Congress Street in 1800. 
After Captain Dalton's death in 1783, the house was occupied by his son, Peter Roe 
Dalton, who was Deputy Commissary-General of Supplies of Issue in the Conti- 
nental Army. He was afterwards cashier of the Massachusetts Bank, and still later 
cashier of the United States Branch Bank. His death occurred in the house in iSii. 
When the Dalton estate was sold, the front portion on Congress Street was covered 
b\- a row of brick dwelling-houses, which were later altered into stores, as the locality 
became devoted to business. These were in turn replaced by a granite business 
structure, which bore the name Dalton Block. The estate is now the site of the 
United States Post-ofiSce Building. 




REVERE HOUSE 

North Square 

The house in North Square which was for years the home of Paul Revere, the 
Ki'\()Uili()iiary patriot, was probably built about 1676, and was therefore almost 
a century old when he bouj^ht it in 1770 for two hundred and thirteen [)ounds, six 
sliillinj^s, eif^ht [)ence. In this house his first wife, Sarah (Ornc), died in 1773, and 
to it he brouf^ht, in less than six months, his second helpmate, Rachel (Walker). 
Here, also, were born the majority of his sixteen children. It was while living in 
N'orth Square that he did his patriotic service as the Messenj^er of the Revolution, 
and he lived in the house until about 1788, when he removed to another house in 
Charter Street. He bouf^ht, twelve years later, on the same street, the brick man- 
sion in which he lived until his death. Revere was an engraver, a gold and silver 
smith, and a bell and cannon founder, and specimens of his handicraft arc now much 
[irized as heirlooms of an heroic |)ast. lie is said at one time to ha\e acted as a 
<lentist. The i)atriot's home in North Scjuare has been restored by the Paul Revere 
House .Association, and is a notable exami)le of a humble home of the older time. 
It is now one of the foremost attractions of the Old North End of Boston. 




WARREN HOUSE 
Hanover Street 

The house was the modest home of General Joseph Warren, the young Boston 
physician of American Revolutionary fame. In 1 734 it was sold by Jonathan Belcher 
to Joshua Green. In 1770 Dr. Warren hired the house of Mrs. Joshua Green on 
Hanover Street, and lived there, his wife having meanwhile died in 1773, until he 
relinquished his profession and left Boston to give his whole attention to the legisla- 
tive deliberations in Massachusetts which preceded the Revolution. A letter from 
George Green to Joshua Green, dated December 5, 1770, describes the leasing of the 
house in the following words: "My mother has let out the house to one Dr. Warren 
and boards with him as she did not choose to move out of a place she has been so 
long used to. She reserves to herself the two front chambers and keeps her maid 
and negro man." The house was taken down about the year 1835, when the Ameri- 
can House was built. Joseph Warren was commissioned Major-General by the 
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts on June 14, 1775. Three days later he was 
killed at the battle of Bunker Hill, thus becoming one of the first martyrs of the 
Revolution. 




GALLOUPE HOUSE 

Hull Street 

Tlif (ialloiipc house formcrlN' stood on aiicicnl Hull Sircet, at the Xorth Knd, 
and was built about 1724 by Pliili[) IIowcll, lalker, who bouj^ht the land on which it 
stood of ICbenczcr ("louj^h, a selectman of Boston and a founder of the Xcw Xorth 
Church. After several transfers the estate was bouf^ht in 1772 by Benjamin Gallop, 
as the name was then spelled, who resided in it until 1775, the year before his death. 
The house was then occupied by British troojjs, the Clalloi) family withdrawing to 
Saugus. Tradition says that (ieneral (lage occupied it as his mililar_\' headquarters 
during the battle of Bunker Hill. Richard (;alU)U[)e, son of Benjamin, next occu- 
|)ied the house. .\t his dcatii, atiout 1842, the estate became the property of his 
.sonin-iaw, William Marble, the well-known sail-maker and decorator. lie occupied 
it until 1S77, when he sold it to William Coleman, wholesale I'lsh merchant, who 
occupied it until his death in 1005. Tiie site of the CallouiJC house and j;arden, 
which, when the iiouse was built, extended to Salem Street, is now covered by tene- 
ment i)roperty. 




CAPEN HOUSE 

Union Street 

The Capen house, which still stands at Nos. 41 to 45 Union Street, bears evi- 
dence, in its solid belted front wall and ancient roof, that it was built about the 
beginning of the eighteenth century, although the northerly portion was apparently 
built at a later period. It is one of the oldest buildings in that locality. Hopestill 
Capen was a shopkeeper in this building for many years before his death in 1807, 
and also a town official in Boston and a sergeant in the Ancient and Honorable 
Artillery Company. He was "the master" to whom was apprenticed in 1763 
Benjamin Thompson, of Woburn, Mass., who later became a distinguished scientist, 
and was known as Count Rumford. Thomas Capen, a son of Hopestill Capen, suc- 
ceeded his father as a shopkeeper in the old house, and owned the property at the 
time of his death in 1819. It was then appraised at live thousand dollars, and it 
is still assessed to the heirs of Thomas Capen. The oyster business has been con- 
ducted in the Capen Building by tradesmen bearing the name of Atwood from the 
year 1826 to the present time. It is also worthy of note that the Massachusetts 
Spy was published in the building by Isaiah Thomas from 1771 to the beginning of 
the Revolution, when it was removed to Worcester. 








M^Miiiyiiliil:' -1. 



BULFINCH HOUSE 

Bowdoin Square 

About 1724 John Coleman, a Boston merchant, gave adjoining lots of land in 
tlial portion of Cambridge Street, West Boston, which is now known as Bowdoin 
Sfjuare, to Dr. Thomas Buifiiuh and Peter Chardon, who had married, respectively, 
his daughters Judith and Sarah, and a house was soon built on each estate. Dr. 
lUiifmch, who was a physician, lived with his family in the house that he built until 
his death in 1757. His only son, Thomas Bulfinch, was likewise a physician, and 
married in 1759 Susan, daughter of John .Apthorp and grand-daughter of Stephen 
(Jreenleaf, last Royal High SherilT of SulTolk County. Dr. Bultinch, the younger, 
lived in the house until his death in 1802, and about then the estate was bought by 
Joseph Coolidge, a Boston mi-rciiant, as a home for his son Joseph Coolidge, who had 
married a daughter of Dr. Bullinch. A son of Dr. Bultinch was Charles Bultinch, 
who was born in the house in 176,5. He was the distinguished architect who designed 
the State Hou.sc and many other notable buildings still standing in Boston and else- 
where in New Kngland. He was prominent in the civic atTairs of the town of Boston, 
serving as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen. Charles Bultmch passed his latter 
days in the old family home when it was in the possession of the Coolidge family. 
The site of the liultinch house is now covered by a granite block which bears the 
name Coolidge Building. 










;,.^iiiW^ll?^ji 



^illi 



Es:^r'"^i 




ROWE HOUSE 
Bedford Street 

John Rowe, who was born in Exeter, England, in 1715, came to Boston about 
1736, having then bought a warehouse on Long Wharf, and became one of its richest 
merchants. He married in 1743 Hannah Speakman, but had no children. He 
purchased in 1764 an estate on the northerly side of Pond Lane, now Bedford 
Street, and built the house in which he lived until his death in 1787. In his pub- 
lished diary he records as follows his removal into his new house: "Oct. 16, 1766, 
Slept this night for the first time in our new house which is a Very Good, Hand- 
some and Convenient house." John Rowe also owned a large tract of land opposite 
his house, which e.xtended from Bedford to F^ssex Street. Rowe Street, now a part 
of Chauncy Street, was named for him. His diary shows us that he was intimate 
with the wealthy and influential families of Boston, and his home was the scene 
of many splendid entertainments. He was a warden of Trinity Church, a proprietor 
of Long Wharf, a selectman, and served on various town committees. He was also 
Grand Master of Masons of North America, receiving his commission in 1768 from 
the Duke of Beaufort. The Rowe estate was sold in 181 7 by the heirs, Mrs. Rowe 
having died in 1805, to Judge William Prescott, and he lived there until his death 
in 1844, as did also his son, William Hickling Prescott, the historian. The house 
was taken down in 1845, 'ind the site is now covered by the Bedford Street store of 
the Jordan Marsh Company. 




JOHN QUINCY ADAMS HOUSE 
Corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets 

In 1806 and 1807 John Quincy Adams, then a practising lawyer in Boston, and 
son of John Adams, second President of the United States, bought two adjoining 
estates at the corner of I*"rog Lane and Nassau Street, now Boylston and Tremont 
Streets. In the home which Mr. .\dams made for himself here his distinguished son, 
Charles Francis .Adams, was born, August 18, 1807. Mr. .\dams, however, lived 
here but a short time, for in 1809 he went with his family to Russia, having been 
ap|)()inted by President Madison the first United States minister to that country. 
John (^)uin(y .Adams never returned to Boston to live, for he was continuously in 
|)ublii life in Washington and abroad, and served as the sixth President of the United 
Stales from 1825 to 182Q. The estate, however, remained in the possession of the 
.\dams family until recently. It was covered for some years b\' the Hotel Boylston, 
and is now the site of the Motel Touraine. The house is shown back of the lamp- 
post. 




GARDINER GREENE HOUSE 
Tremont Row 

The house which bore the above name during the first third of the nineteenth 
century was probably in its best days the most elegant residence in Boston, being 
surrounded by spacious gardens and occupying the crest and eastern slope of Pem- 
berton Hill, or, as it was first known, Cotton Hill. It was built about 1758 by 
William Vassall, and in 1790 the estate became the property of Patrick Jeffry, who 
was known as the second husband of the wronged but eccentric INIadame Haley. 
Jonathan IMason became the owner of the property in 1802, and in the following 
year sold it to Gardiner Greene, who occupied it until his death in 1832. During 
Greene's occupancy it was the scene of lavish hospitality. At the time of his death 
the estate measured three hundred feet on Tremont Row, and was appraised at one 
hundred and forty-two thousand dollars. Gardiner Greene's widow was a daughter 
of John Singleton Copley, the eminent painter, and sister of Lord Lyndhurst, once 
Lord Chancellor of England. She survived her husband more than thirty years. 
When the great improvement of Tremont Street, Tremont Row, and Pcmberton 
Square was made in 1835, the Gardiner Greene estate was covered with buildings. 




PERKINS HOUSE 
Pearl Street 

James Perkins and his brother and business partner, Thomas Handasyd Perkins, 
■wealthy Boston merchants, purchased of Daniel ^IcXeill in 1792 land on Pearl Street, 
formerly Hutchinson Street, after the destruction by fire of the rope-walks on that 
thoroughfare, and built thereon two homes. Colonel Thomas H. Perkins, a dis- 
tinj^uished Hostonian of his time, occupied his house until about the >'ear 1834, when 
he removed to the new house which he had built in Tem[)le Place, and which is now, 
in an altered condition, the Ijankinu-room of the Pro\i(lent Institution for Sa\inf;s. 
James Perkins, a short time before his death in 1822, fj;avc his mansion to the Boston 
Athena-um, the institution ac((uirinj^ additional land by [)urchase, and it was the home 
•of the Athena'um from 1822 to 1S40, when it remo\e(l to its i)resent home on Beacon 
Street. Soon after this last date the neighborhood of Pearl and Hij^h Streets be- 
came a business locality, and the former hospitable mansion was swept away before 
the march of improvement. James Perkins died at his summer estate "Pine Bank" 
on Jamaica Pond, whic ii is familiar to frequenters of the beautiful i>leasure-,i:roimd, 
Jamaica Park. 




JOHN PHILLIPS HOUSE 
Beacon Street 

The house which John Phillips, afterwards first mayor of Boston, built in 1804 
at the comer of Beacon and Walnut Streets, was the first one built on Beacon Street 
under the Copley title, Mr. Phillips having acquired his land from Jeremiah Mason. 
Mason was one of the Mt. Vernon Proprietors, and had improved a large portion of 
Beacon Hill at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Air. Phillips occupied the 
house until his death in 1823, and it was here that his distinguished son, Wendell 
Phillips, was born in 1811. After Mr. Phillips's death the estate was. sold in 1825 
by his heirs to Thomas Lindall Winthrop, Lieutenant-Ciovernor of Massachusetts 
from 1826 to 1832. Mr. Winthrop, having a large family, increased the size of the 
house materially, and changed the location of the front door from Beacon to Walnut 
Street. Mr. Winthrop died in 1841, and the estate was sold to Thomas Di.xon, mer- 
chant and Dutch consul at Boston. He lived there until his death in 1849. About 
1861 the Phillips mansion was purchased by Robert M. Mason, who occupied it 
until his death in 1879. It is now in the possession of his family. 




HARRIS HOUSE 
Corner of Pearl and High Streets 

Alioui the year 1800 Jonathan Harris, a Boston merchant, built a large house 
on ihc L-slale which he purchased at the corner of what is now Pearl and High Streets. 
These streets were formerly Hutchinson Street and Cow Lane. Its great cost, how- 
ever, ruined Harris, and he li\ed in it but a few years and died insolvent. The house 
was therefore called Harris' Folly. Henderson Inches, a well-known merchant, was 
a later occupant of the hou.se or a portion of it, until his removal to Beacon Street 
about 185 1, and we are told that it was then used for an asylum. When business 
invaded the locality the house was taken down, and its former site was covered by 
mercantile structures. These were consumed in the (Ireat Fire of 1S72, and others 
which still stand took their [)lace. The illustration shows "Harris' FoIl\" looming 
in the background aboN'c the residence of JelTrey Ricliardson, who was in his day 
a wi-il-knowii nicnhanl nf Hoston. 




5«SCLs^' 



AMORY-TICKNOR HOUSE 
Corner of Park and Beacon Streets 

The house which, although much altered, still stands at the corner of Beacon and 
Park Streets, was built about 1804 by Thomas Amory, a Boston merchant, but busi- 
ness reverses prevented him from occupying it, and he removed to Roxbury. It 
was later, with an extension, converted into several dwellings, and was for some 
years occupied as a fashionable boarding-house. Several distinguished men were 
occupants during the early part of the ninetecenth century, notably Christopher 
(iore while Governor of Alassachusctts, Samuel Dexter, an eminent lawyer and 
cabinet officer under President Adams, and Fisher Ames, member of Congress. In 
1825 the city of Boston rented a portion of the house on Park Street as a temporary 
residence for General Lafayette, when he was a guest of the municipality. In 1830 
George Ticknor, the historian, became an occupant of the easterly portion of the 
Park Street side, and resided there until his death in 1871. Here was his large library 
of eighteen thousand volumes, and here his widow resided until her death. In 1885 
the entire structure was gi\en over to trade, and to-day it is the abode of many firms 
in \arious lines of business. 




OTIS-AUSTIN HOUSE 

Beacon Street 

It still stands at 45 Beacon Street, retains practically its original outward ap- 
pearance, and was built by Harrison (Iray Otis, one of the Mt. \'ernon Proprietors, 
and mayor of Boston from 182Q to 1832. It is intcrcstin;:; to note that a city govern- 
ment was once organized in this house by the mayor, owing to his indisposition at 
the time. Mr. (Jtis first occu|)ied the house in 1S07, he having sold the large house 
still standing on Mt. \'ernon Street, which he had built previously. When the Beacon 
Street mansion was built, the lot of land on which it stood measured one hundred 
and twenty feet on Beacon Street, and it had a depth of one hundred and si.\ty-tive 
feet. Moreover, there was a garden on the easterly half of the lot. Mr. Otis, how- 
ever, sold to David Sears a !)ortion of his garden, t)n which he built his house. Mr. 
Otis also built, between his house and Mr. Sears's, another house which he sold, .\fter 
Mr. Otis's death in 1848 the house was sold to Edward Austin, who occupied it until 
his death in 1898. The estate is still in the possession of his relatives. 




LAWRENCE HOUSE 

Tremont Street 

In 1810 Charles Bulfinch, the eminent Boston architect, who was doing so much 
at that time to beautify his native town, designed Colonnade Row, which embraced 
the stately dwelling-houses on Tremont Street from West to Mason Street. It is 
interesting to note that, after General Lafayette's visit to Boston in 1825, this por- 
tion of Tremont Street was called Lafayette Place for several years, and that to-day 
Lafayette Mall stretches southward on the Common from Park Street. In the year 
1 82 1 Amos Lawrence, who became later one of Boston's eminent merchants and who 
was associated with his equally distinguished brother, Abbott Lawrence, in the great 
firm of A. & A. Lawrence & Co., bought of Uavid Greenough for twenty thousand 
dollars the easterly house of the Row, at the corner of West Street, and resided there 
until his death in 1852. The estate is still in the possession of the Lawrence family, 
and some years ago the attractive dwelling-house was replaced by a business struct- 
ure bearing the name of the Lawrence Building. At the present time a more lofty 
and ornate Lawrence Building is taking its place among the mercantile houses of 
Boston. The house is shown on the left-hand side of the ])icture. 




lilXKLEV HOUSE 
Beacon Street 

The (louhli- j^'ranitc mansion which formerly stood at the corner of Beacon and 
Somerset Streets was built after the War of 1S12 by David Hinkley, a rich merchant, 
who Ixiiij^ht the land in iSioof Jeremiah Allen, llij^h SheritT of SiilTolk C'oimty. After 
Mr. Hinkley 's occupancy, for a few years before his death in 1825, it became the home 
of Benjamin W. Crowiiinshield, who died in 1851. In 1S52 the house became the 
home of the newly formed Somerset Club, and was so used for twenty \ears, when 
the club ac(|uired by purchase the mansion house of David Sears on Beacon Street. 
The easterly house on Beacon Street was occupied by Benjamin W'i^jjin, merchant, 
whose death occurred about the year 1825. In 1825 the house was sold to Josejih 
Pcabody, of Salem, whose dauf^hter, Catherine Peabody, had recently married John 
L. (jardner of Boston, and the (iardners resided in the hovise for about forty years. 
In 1872 the combined houses came into the jjossession of the Conjirejiational Society, 
which constructed stori'S on the (irst tloor and used the upi)er [larl for society pur- 
poses. In 1004 the Hinkley houses were taken down and a new buiklin^ erected 
on the site. It is now a portion of the store of the Houjjhlon-Dutlon Company. 




QUINCY HOUSE 
Park Street 

The house which stands at No. 5 Park Street, and is the third house in the fore- 
ground, was built early in the nineteenth century, and was the home in which Josiah 
Quincy passed the evening of his life. It has since been converted into offices. Quincy 
bought the house in 1857 of William Graj', who had recently inherited it from his 
uncle, Francis C. Gray, who resided there until his death. Josiah Quincy is best 
remembered as the "Great Mayor" of Boston and as a great president of Harvard 
University. His fellow-citizens placed him as well in other positions of trust and 
honor. After resigning the presidency of Harvard University, he resided for several 
years in Beacon Hill Place. From there he removed to Park Street, which was then 
a beautiful residential street, facing the Common. He died in Quincy in the summer 
of 1864. 




PRESCOTT HOUSE 
Beacon Street 

At No. 55 Beacon Street there stands a stately dwelling-house which was built 
early in the nineteenth century. It was the home of the distinguished historian, 
William Hickling Prcscott, for the last fourteen years of his life, and in it he died in 
1850. Mr. I'rescotl hafl li\c(i with his family and parents in the Rowe mansion on 
{{(■(jford Street, formerly Pond Street, hut in 1S45, the year after the death of Judge 
William Prescolt, the estate was sold and the old house taken down. It was then 
that the historian, who was at the height of his fame, bought the Beacon Street dwell- 
ing from Augustus Thorndike, of Newport, R.I. It faced Boston Common, and was 
an ideal home for a man of letters, containing Prescott's large library and a study in 
which he did his literary work. 




PARKMAN HOUSE 
Bowdoin Square 

The large granite double house which stood for years at the western end of Bow- 
doin Square was built about 1816 by Hon. Samuel Parkman, a rich merchant. He was 
father of Dr. George Parkman, who was murdered in 1849 by John White Webster. 
Samuel Parkman was the grandfather of Francis Parkman, the historian. Samuel 
Parkman lived in the house at the corner of Green Street until his death in 1824. The 
house at the corner of Cambridge Street was occupied by his son-in-law and daughter, 
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Blake, Jr. Mr. Blake, however, died in 181 7, and his widow 
lived in the house until her death in 1847, sharing it with her mother from 1824 until 
her death in 1834. After Samuel Parkman's death his former home was occupied by 
his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Shaw, and they lived there 
until about the year 1840, when they removed to the corner of Beacon and Joy Streets. 
Mr. Shaw was an eminent merchant, and was grandfather of Colonel Robert G. Shaw 
who, at the head of his colored troops in the Civil War, gav'e his life for his countr)-. 
The Parkman houses, both falling into the possession of the Shaw family, remained 
standing until a few years ago; and the site is now covered by a business structure 
which bears the name Parkman Building. 




SEARS HOUSE 
Beacon Street 

There stands at No. 42 Beacon Street, facing Boston Common, the large and 
elegant granite mansion which was built by David Scars, who inherited great wealth 
from his father, David Sears, merchant. The western hall of the house, two stories 
in height and containing one circular bay, was built in 1821. The entrance then was 
on a court-yard on the easterly side of the house. In iS.^ii Mr. Sears doubled the size 
of the house and made it three stories in height. This made the house the most 
costly one of the day in Boston, and its owner lived in it until his death in 187 1. 
It became the projjcrty of the Somerset C'iut) in 1S72, and, even in these days of lu.\- 
urious club-hcnises, makes an ideal home for Boston's represcntali\e club on Boston's 
n|)rcscntative street. Hon. David Sears was in his day a leading citizen of Boston. 
Hnrn in 1787 on the .same street on which he died eighty-three years later, his social 
position was always high in his native town and city. He was also prominent in 
|)oliti(al life, and served the Commonwealth in both branches of the legislature. His 
charital)lf cnddwrnciils were numerous and larLre, and t'lidure to this (la\'. 




WEBSTER HOUSE 
Junction of Summer and High Streets 

At the corner of Summer and High Streets stood for years the house which was 
for ten years the home of Daniel Webster, whom Boston delighted to honor as the 
first citizen of the cit}^ and whose memory still lingers in the place of his adoption. 
Mr. Webster first occupied the house about 1828, he having bought the estate in 
1825, and he lived there until 183Q, selling it in that year to Hon. Peter C. Brooks 
for thirty-two thousand dollars. It was in 1830, during his residence in this house, 
that Webster, then a leader in the United States Senate, made his celebrated 
reply to Senator Hayne of South Carolina, in which he defended with his matchless 
eloquence the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which had, in his own words, "kept 
him in the councils of the nation for so many years." Peter C. Brooks, who lived 
in the house until his death in 1849, was a distinguished Bostonian, and was reputed 
lo be one of the richest men of his daj'. He was the father-in-law of three eminent 
citizens of Boston, — Hon. Edward Everett, Hon. Charles P^ancis Adams, and Rev. 
Xathaniel L. Frothingham, D.D. When advancing trade swept away the man- 
sions of Summer and High Streets, the house was taken down and a mercantile struct- 
ure was erected in its place. After the Great Fire of 1872 a second building was 
erected, which bears on its front wall the inscription "The Home of Daniel Webster." 
The house appears in the center of the j)icture. 




EVERETT HOUSE 

SuninuT Street 

Hon. Kdward Everett and his wife, Charlotte Gray, daughter of Hon. Peter C. 
Brooks of Boston, became i)ossesscd of the estate 32 Summer Street by the divi- 
sion of Mr. Brooks's i)ro[)erty at the time of his death in 1S40. Mr. Everett, who 
had recently resij^ned the i)resideiuy of Harvard C'olk'i^e, became the occujiant of 
the house in 1.S52, and resided there until his death in iS()5. He was then l)y common 
consent, the first citizen of Boston, and the announcement of his death called fmm 
President Lincoln, only three montiis Ijefore his own death, a proclamation tellin;:; 
the country that the sad event had taken place. Mr. Everett filled numerous olVices 
of trust and honor, the most important ones being those of Ciovemor of Massachusetts, 
Minister to I-lngland, and Secretary of State of the United Slates. He was an accom- 
plished scholar, and also po.ssessed great elo(|uence and charm of manner. These 
combined In make liis career one thai will l)e loim remembered. 




Jl'J 





^ ■««*-. .^ 



CHOATE HOUSE 
Winthrop Place 

The neighborhood of Church Green was a favorite residential locality for Bos- 
tonians in the first half of the nineteenth century. At 3 Winthrop Place, now at the 
western end of Devonshire Street, shown back of its lamp-post, was the house which 
was the home of Hon. Rufus Choate, one of Boston's eminent citizens, from 185 1 
until his death in 1859. Mr. Choate bought the estate of William W'ard, a Boston 
business man, and Ward acquired it in 1846 from Isaac McLellan, merchant, who had 
built it some years previously. It is interesting to note that during Mr. McLcllan's 
occupancy of the house a reception was given there to General Lafayette, when 
he visited Boston in 1825, by General William Hull, whose daughter married Mr. 
McLellan. Rufus Choate's death, however, did not occur in this house. Owing to 
failing health, he sailed for England in company with his son, but soon became so ill 
that the steamship docked at Halifa.x, N.S., to put him ashore. He died there, July 
i.^, 1859. Mr. Choate's attainments as a lawyer, scholar, and orator gave him great 
prominence in the professional, social, and [lolitical life of Boston. He ser\ed in the 
national House of Representatives and as United States senator from Massachusetts. 




CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS HOUSE 

a\Il. \'crnon Street 

The house at No. 57 Mt. Vernon Street has to-day the same outward appearance 
as when it was built early in the nineteenth century. It was in 1842 the home of 
Charles Krancis .\dams. He occupied it until his death. Mr. Adams, who married 
in 1829 a dauj^hter of Hon. Peter C Brooks of Hoslon, was a jirominent cili/.cn for 
man\' years, and had the distinction of beinj^ respecti\el\- j^randson anil son of the 
second and sixth I'residents of the United States. lie was elected in 1S58 a mem- 
ber of the national House of Rei)resenlalives in the Thirty-sixth Conj^ress, and at 
the close of the session in 1861 was a[)pointed United States minister to England 
by President Lincoln. In this oflice, during the Civil War and for three years after- 
wards, Mr. .\dams served to the satisfaction of the nation. He returned to Europe 
in 1871 to rejircscnt the United States in the . Alabama Claims Tribunal at tJcneva, 
Switzerland. The decision of the Tribunal, by which England paid to the United 
.Slates fifteen and a half millions of dollars, ga\e great satisfaction to Mr. .\dams, and 
he returned to his native land considering this lo be the crowning achievement of 
his life. Mr. .\dams died in i8S() in the eightieth year of his age, and his widow 
survived him less than three years. 




WENDELL PHILLIPS HOUSE 

Essex Street 

The modest dwelling No. 26, and later No. 50, Essex Street, was the home of 
Wendell Phillips, the anti-slavery leader, from 1841 until the year 1882, when it was 
taken down for the extension of Harrison Avenue from Essex to Bedford Streets. 
While living in this house, Mr. Phillips accomplished his great work in the anti- 
sla\ery cause, and he was aided in it by his wife, who, although a confirmed invalid 
for more than forty years, was always deeply and actively interested in her husband's 
labors for the African race. After leaving their old home in Essex Street in 1882, 
Wendell and Ann Phillips removed to Common Street, a distance of half a mile. 
There they found an old house on an old street, and in it they passed the evening 
of their lives. He died in 1884, and she followed him in a little more than two years. 
The illustration shows Mr. Phillips standing on the steps of his Essex Street home, 
the front door of which is preserved in the Collections of the Bostonian Society. 





■ri in nnm i 

UilitjSilii 






liiiiTii'iiii 




ANDREW HOUSE 

Charles Street 

A walk through Charles Street, which skirts the river from which the street de- 
rives its name, sliows us the house which was the home, during the closing years of 
his life, of John Alljion Andrew, who will ever be remcnihered as War Ciosernor of 
Massachusetts. In 1S55 Mr. .Andrew, who was then a ])ractising lawyer in Boston, 
removed his home from Hingham to IU)ston, and became the occupant of 71, now 
I 10, Charles Street, lie ri'sided there, ha\ing purchased the estate in iSdj, until 
his death in iH()-j. He had been active for some years in the anli-slaver\' movement, 
and, as a result, was elected Governor of Massachusetts in iS()o,at the o[)ening of the 
Civil War, and held that olVice luilil the close of the year 1865. His service to the 
Commonwealth and the Nation during the Civil War makes a record of which Massa- 
chu.setts is justly proud. The ta.\ ui)on Ciovernor .Andrew's strength during his term 
of ollice as governor resulted in liis deatli befon- he h.id altaiiu'd the age of t"ift\' vears 




TRINITY CHURCH RECTORY 

Clarendon Street 

The house. No. 2^,3 Clarendon Street, at the corner of Newbury Street, is note- 
worthy as having been the home of Phillips Brooks from the fall of 18S0 until January 
23, 1893, when he died within its walls, lamented by the entire nation. The house 
is the rectory of Trinity Church, and as such was built conformably to the taste of 
Dr. Brooks, then rector of the church. He was therefore its first occupant, and 
he continued to reside in it after his election to the bishopric of Massachusetts in 
1891. After Bishop Brooks's death, another story was added to the house, and it 
was then occupied, until his death, by Rev. E. Winchester Donald, D.D., who suc- 
ceeded Phillips Brooks as rector of Trinity Church, and it is now the home of Rev. 
Alexander Mann, D.D., the present rector. Phillips Brooks was a favorite son of 
Boston. Born within its walls in 1835, he was educated at Harvard College, and 
afterwards for the ministry in Virginia. Returning to his native city in i86g, after 
a rectorate in Philadelphia, he devoted the remainder of his life to the moral and 
religious uplift of his fellow-citizens. It is no exaggeration to say that Phillips 
Brooks was the best-known and best-beloved preacher who ever occupied the pulpit 
in this countr>'. 




HOLMES HOUSE 
Beacon Street 

The house No. 2g6 Beacon Street, with the bay window, is of interest to Boston- 
ians as having; been the home of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, (irofessor and poet, from 
the year 1871 until his death in 1804. The house is on the water side of Beacon Street. 
Dr. Holmes was professor of anatomy and physioloj^y at the Harxard Medical School 
for many years, and as such was the instructor of students who became dislinRuished 
physicians and surgeons. He was even more widely known as one of the ^jroup of 
men of letters who made Boston famous as a literary centre in the middle of the nine- 
teenth century. He was a fre(|ucnt contributor to literary as well as medical pub- 
lications and perioilicals. Besitles his poems and his best-known no\el, " Klsie 
V'enner," he wrote several books of essays, the best known beinf^ "The .Autocrat of 
the Breakfast Table." After the ap[)earance of the hist-named volume. Dr. Holmes 
was alwavs known as "The denial .\iitocrat." 




MELVILLE HOUSE 
Green Street 

The home of Thomas Melville, the last of the "cocked hats" in Boston, stood for 
many years on Green Street, formerlj' Green Lane, near Bovvdoin Square. He bought 
the estate, a part in 1788 and a part in 1800, and lived in the comfortable house 
erected there for about forty years. He is recorded as a resident of Green Street 
as early as 1796, and he died there in 1832. Major Melville — for such was his title — 
was a well-known citizen of Boston for many years. He participated in the Boston 
Tea Party in 1773, served in the Revolutionary War, and was Naval Officer and 
Surveyor of the Port of Boston from 1789 to 1829. He was popularly known as the 
last man in Boston to wear a cocked hat and knee-breeches, and as such was immor- 
talized by the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, who wrote of him in his poem "The 
Last Leaf": — 

"I know it is a sin 
For me to sit and grin 

At him here; 
But the old three-cornered hat 
And the breeches and all that 
Are so queer." 




DEACON HOUSE 

Washington Street 

This mansion was huill on Washington Street at the South ICnd about 1S4S by 
Peter I'ari^er, a wealthy Boston merchant, for his son-in-hiw and daughter, Mr. 
and Mrs. ICdward Preble Deacon. It was desij^ned like a French chateau, and the 
extensive prounds which surrounded it were enclosed by a hij^h brick wall. The 
entrance to the house was on Concord Street, through double gates, beside which was 
a porter's lodge. The Deacon family lived, however, but a few years in the great 
house, and went abroad, where Mr. Deacon died about the year 185 1. Mrs. Deacon 
and her children returned to .Vmerica, and lived again in the house, but later returned 
to Europe to li\e ])ermanenlly. The house and its contents were sold at auction 
on the first three days of Pebruary, 1S71, soon after the death of Peter Parker, and 
the e\ent was a noteworthy one, as thousands of Hostonians, admitted by ticket, 
crowded the mansion before the sale to \iew the splendor of the house, furniture, 
and works of art. The estate is now i)ractically covered with buildings, but a jjortion 
of the mansion still stands, and on it the passer-by on the elexaled train reads the 
W(ir(i> •■ Deacon Halls." 




GARRISON HOUSE 
Highland Street, Roxbury 

At 125 Highland Street, Roxbury, on an elevation thirty feet above that thor- 
oughfare, stands "Rockledge," which was for the last fifteen years of his life the 
home of William Lloyd Garrison, the anti-sla\'ery leader. He died in the city of 
Xew York in 1879, while there on a visit. I\Ir. Garrison removed to Roxbury in 1S64, 
after having lived in Dix Place, Boston, for eleven years. It was in Dix Place in 
the years preceding the Civil War that he accomplished so much of his great work 
in the cause of the abolition of slavery, but " Rockledge " was the suburban home in 
which he passed the last part of his life. His former residence is now occupied as 
the Saint Monica Home for .\ged Colored Peojile. William Llo\d Garrison's career 
is a part of the history of Boston, and indeed of the country. It was said of him, when 
he died, by a metropolitan newspaper which had reviled him when living, that his 
life "was lived with a simplicity, singleness of purpose, and unflinching devotion to 
a self-imposed task rare in the annals of any time or any land." 




HALE HOUSE 

Highland Street, Roxbury 

At 3Q Highland Street, Roxbury, near Eliot Square, stands a house of generous 
proi)ortions, showing a two-storied Ionic portico in front. It was the home for forty 
years of Rev. Kdward Everett Hale, D.l)., who was called at the time of his death 
"Boston's Grand Old Man." In 1869 Dr. Hale bought the estate, which had been 
the home of William (ioddard, and he lived there until his death in igog. Edward 
Everett Ilalc, who was born in lioston in 182:?, was a son of Hon. Nathan Hale, a 
well-known Hostonian of his time, and he was named for his uncle, the distinguished 
Edward Everett. He was a lineal descendant of Nathan Hale, the martyr spy of 
the Revolution. He was educated at Harvard College, and became a clergyman, 
but he was also widely known as an author. Countless productions of his jien have 
been i)ublished, and some of his stories, notably "The Man without a Country," are 
classics. Dr. Hale, for the greater part of his long life, was a leader in the religious, 
philanthropic, and literary activities of his native city. He was known nation-wide 
as the founder of the " Lend-a-Hand" movement. 



JATi 25 1912 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



MN ' 25 1912 



LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 



014 077 950 7 




